The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s £1.6bn overseas estate is wasting space and money due to weak management, according to the National Audit Office.

Today, the NAO published a report which criticises the FCO’s estates strategy for being thin on detailed property data and allowing total spend on projects since 2002 to go over-budget by £57m.

The study, called Adapting the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s global estate to the modern world, says more than half of properties have unused office space or staff accommodation. This is despite the FCO’s obligation to offer a property network for other UK government bodies overseas.

According to the NAO, a third of capital projects exceeded their initial budget by over 10%  and two-thirds finished late. It says the FCO fails to identify what it needs from its estate, whether it is meeting its needs, or how it will address any gaps.

Edward Leigh, chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts, said the faults were particularly worrying because of the size and complexity of the estate, which has 4,062 properties in 279 cities worldwide.

“This makes it all the more troubling that its strategy for managing this estate is light on detail and its information on the cost and use of the estate far from robust,” he said.

“It is not possible to determine what progress, if any, has been made in making best use of the estate and so value for money for the taxpayer looks doubtful.”

The report says that without a clear framework to assess the estate’s performance, it is difficult to evaluate the progress of the department as a whole.

However, some examples of good practice were identified. The report shows the FCO has responded well to changing security threats, including a three-fold rise in the number of countries which have a critical or severe terrorist threat rating.

In July 2009, the FCO appointed Alan Croney as a director of estates and security to develop a new strategy for managing the property.

Annual expenditure on the estate increased from £180m in 2004-05 to £285 million in 2008-09. This was largely due to increases in capital spending from £64m in 2004-05 to £115m in 2008-09, which was used for security upgrades following the bombing of the Istanbul Consulate in 2003.

To read the full report, click here: Adapting the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s global estate to the modern world

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